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Logo Design & Branding for a Pennsylvania Photographer

Posted on April 20, 2015

We had the pleasure of meeting Pam Baumann at this years Shutterfest. Pam is a professional photographer based out of Limerick, Pennsylvania. She originally started out as a nature photographer and is now focusing more on family and individual portraiture. When we met Pam she had no idea what she wanted her brand to look like. Since we were in the trade show area, I decided to start helping her define her brand by visiting the Photo Flash Drive booth. I asked her what style of zip drive or box was she drawn to. She walked right past the modern crystal drive, and the high-fashion alligator skinned boxes and went immediately towards the premium wood packaging. This was the start of defining her brand. We then discussed what large named brands have an aesthetic that she gravitates towards but she couldn’t think of any. As we walked through the trade show we were discussing the booth designs, that’s when she saw one she really loved. I can’t recall the name of the company, but the booth used worn corrugated metal, reclaimed wood, earth tones and had a very rustic look and feel, yet it still felt inviting and warm. She instantly said that was the direction she wanted to go. Once I saw that booth it reminded me of Timberland, the boot company, so I mentioned that brand to her and she agreed that it had elements she liked.

From there, we discussed what type of logo she wanted, a type-based logo, a monogram, a crest of some kind or one with an icon. Without hesitation Pam said she wanted an icon. We then talked about what the icon could be, as the best ones have some type of meaning behind them. The conversation started with Pam possibly wanting to use hills, a sunset with trees, etc. but I told her icons need to be simple. It then went into possibly using a camera aperture or shutter, which I hate to use unless it is incorporated in a clever and memorable way. We despise photography logos that use generic cameras or shutters, they feel so impersonal and cliche.

This led us to the discussion of possibly using a tree which is a great symbol for family. We talked about using a tree with her initials hidden in the branches, but she was not sold. The conversation then moved into using a leaf or leaves. By this time Pam’s visual brand was pretty well defined. It was natural, rustic and colorful yet warm. That is when it hit me, using leaves to create an camera aperture. I drew a quick sketch and Pam was instantly sold. My first concern was has it been done before, I searched a couple of the largest logo databases along with Google Images and found nothing. This made us both extremely happy.

Below in Pam’s new logo along with the beginning stages of her visual branding package, including sample identity, flash drive packaging, typefaces and color palettes.

Pam-Baumann-logo-branding

Do you need help defining your brand and implementing a full identity package to match? Give Visual Lure a call today at 618-407-9231, we would love to help you find your brand.

Click here to view more of our photography logos and branding packages »

 

New WordPress Website for St. Louis Area Car Audio Company

Posted on March 31, 2015

Xclusive Autosound originally came to Visual Lure to search engine optimize their existing website, but after a review of the site, we found that the WordPress theme they were using was part of the problem. Even though it was responsive, it was slow, scoring in the low 60’s in sections of Google Webmaster Tool’s PageSpeed Insights. Xclusive was also having problems with plugin conflicts and missing image files. Simply put, the website was not ranking well, they were tired of all the headaches it was causing them, and they just wanted it done right. To remedy all these issues we helped Xclusive Autosound design, develop and launch a new custom, fast-loading, search engine optimized, responsive WordPress website. Below you can see the new home page design and the car audio & electronics landing page. Please visit xclusiveautosound.com to view the new site.

Xclusive Autosound is a Belleville, IL custom car audio shop that specializes in the installation of car electronics, automobile, commercial & residential window tinting and automotive paint protection film. Their car electronic products include remote starters, backup camera & sensors, mobile video & DVD players, Sirius XM radios, bluetooth and all types of custom car audio equipment.

Even though St. Louis is an entire river away from Belleville, a large portion of their clients make “that arduous trip” due to Xclusive’s reputation (it is actually only 17 miles from downtown St. Louis, MO to Belleville, IL). Their reputation was built by the consistent quality of their work, never taking shortcuts with any of their installs and their eye for detail. This is important because how some of these product are installed and integrated into your automobile are sometimes more important than the products themselves.

xclusive autosound's new home page web design

xclusive autosound's electronics website design

Are you having problems with your existing website?

If you’re having problems with your existing website, don’t try to fix them with another sub-par site. Contact Visual Lure today at 618.407.9231 or info@visuallure.com and we can discuss how we can help you build a solid online presence.

Lifestyle Kitchens & Baths Website Redesign & Launch

Posted on March 16, 2015

Visual Lure recently launched a new website for Lifestyle Kitchens & Baths, a sister company of Wilke Window & Door. Lifestyle Kitchens & Baths is a full service kitchen and bath supplier of cabinets, countertops, vanities, sinks, fixtures, hardware, accessories and more. They have two locations. One in Shiloh, Illinois and the other in St. Charles, Missouri, both conveniently located next to Wilke Window & Door showrooms.

After completing Wilke’s new website, we used the custom designed WordPress theme we developed for them and tailored it for Lifestyle. We changed fonts, the color palette and we uploaded all the new content. By reusing the existing Wilke Window & Door WordPress theme we saved our client a significant amount of time and money, and at the same time it helped create a visual cohesiveness between the two brands.

In addition to the design and development of the new site, Visual Lure also performed all on-site search engine optimization (SEO).

Lifestyle Kitchens & Baths St. Louis WordPress web design

Lifestyle Kitchens & Bath’s new home page design

FREE web design consultation

If you would like to learn more about Visual Lure’s WordPress web design services, please call us today at 618.407-9231 for a FREE web design consultation.

Click here to view more of our latest WordPress and web design projects »

Sneak Peek at Visual Lure’s New WordPress Website Design

Posted on March 8, 2015

One of our most difficult clients to please has always been ourselves.  We have had the same website since 2004 due to multiple reasons. 1. We have been so busy taking care of our clients that it’s been difficult to find the time to fully take care of our own needs. 2. We as designers, find it hard to design for ourselves because we are so critical of our own work, plus we constantly like to explore new design aesthetics, and 3. Web design trends are constantly evolving and we find ourselves always wanting to utilize the latest and greatest ones.

However, there comes a time when things must be done – and for us – that time was now. What truly motivated us was the announcement from Google that on April 21st of 2015 they will be releasing a new algorithm that will effect search results for websites that are not mobile friendly. As of January 2014 all the websites we design and develop for our clients have been done so utilizing responsive (mobile friendly) website design, but our site has yet to be completely converted.

Responsive web design is the practice of designing and developing websites so that they automatically transform to fit the screens of the devices they are being viewed from, including desktop computers, tablets and smart phones. This technique ensures that users have a great user experience no matter how they are viewing a website. For instance, font sizes may increase on the tablet and mobile versions so that users don’t have to zoom in to easily read text, and layouts may shift so that the content remains logically structured while increasing or decreasing in size.

Our current blog is responsive, but the rest of our website is not. We currently rank on the first page of Google for all our targeted search terms and we don’t want to take the risk of dropping due to this update. With that being said, here is a little sneak peek at some of our unused designs over the years along with our new design that is currently under development.  Our new site will be built in WordPress utilizing a fully custom theme. The new theme will feature custom admin sections making it easy for us to update our portfolios. It will also have tons of cool CSS effects and animations. Look for the launch of our new website coming soon!

 

New Website Screenshots:

VLHome-web-design-opt1

new home page design

VL-web-design-about

new about us page

VL-graphic-design-portfolio

new graphic design/print portfolio page

VL-web-design-portfolio

new website design portfolio details page

 

Unselected Design Options:

VLHome-web-design-opt2

the first runner up home page design

VLHome-web-design-opt3

a cool home page design that didn’t make the cut

 

Is your current website not responsive or mobile friendly?

If your current website is not mobile friendly, and you are looking for a new web design company, give Visual Lure a call today. With a free website design consultation we can explore your options and provide you with a free estimate.

Custom WordPress Development for St. Louis Wedding Planner

Posted on February 27, 2015

Visual Lure had the pleasure of working with Kristin Weis (again), and Cheree Berry Paper, to develop Kristin Ashley Events’ new custom WordPress website. Kristin Ashley Events is a premier St. Louis, MO full service wedding and event planning company that provides proposal planning, full wedding coordination, month of coordination along with à la carte options. Without doubt, they are one of the best wedding planning companies in the greater St. Louis area.

The fine designers at Cheree Berry Paper provided the new design and Visual Lure took those comps and turned them into a fully functioning responsive WordPress website. The new website features swaying roll-over frames on the home page and custom admin sections for the portfolio and press pages making it easy for Kristin to maintain. Visual Lure also designed the new contact and blog pages staying true to the aesthetic we were provided. This will be the third website we’ve developed for KAE.

Visit www.kristinashleyevents.com to check out the new website.

new-kae-homepage

new home page design with swaying frames

kae-service-webpage

services pages

kae-portfolio-landing-page

portfolio landing page

kae-wordpress-gallery

photo gallery

kae-video-gallery

video gallery

kae-wordpress-blog

blog page

Learn more about our web design or WordPress design services, or contact us today for a free website consultation.

Logo Design & Branding Package for St. Louis Grand Champion Grill Masters

Posted on February 18, 2015

A personal friend of ours is a member of a St. Louis Grand Champion barbecue crew, and a couple months ago we had the pleasure of tasting some of his scrumptious dishes. It was some of the best ribs, pork steaks, brats and chicken we’ve ever had. Last year his team won the title of Grand Champions at The 10th Annual Wildwood Barbecue Bash. The year before that they won for best chicken.

While we were feasting on his fine cuisine, we started to discuss the name of his team, Mr. Pink BBQ. The name was inspired by Steve Buscemi’s character in Reservoir Dogs.  I instantly saw a new logo in my head. Mr. Pink, dressed in his all black suit and skinny tie – riding a pig like a bull rider – holding on to some type of grilling utensil.

Below is that vision taken from conception to completion, including an alternative logo format, trailer graphics, sample patterns, color palette, typefaces and identity package.

mr-pink-logo-design-branding

If you are interested in our logo design or branding services give us a call today at 618.407.9231 or email us at info@visuallure.com.

Eight Visual Lure Logos Selected for Logo Lounge 9 Publication

Posted on February 16, 2015

Visual Lure is once again honored to have work selected for publication in the LogoLounge series. LogoLounge is without a doubt THE best and most prestigious logo design publication in the World. This year’s panel of international judges consisted of Kendrick Kidd of Shepherd Agency, Matt McCracken of Doublenaut, Sebastian Padilla of Anagrama, Ian Paget of LogoGeek, Tracy Sabin of Sabingrafik, Christopher Simmons of MINE, Matt Stevens of Design Office of Matt Stevens, and Alina Wheeler of Designing Brand Identity. Over 23,000 logos were submitted with only the cream of the crop selected.

“The final collection is not only an excellent point-in-time examination, it is full to the brim with inspiration, higher thinking, and craftsmanship.” – Bill Gardner, LogoLounge Founder.

The new book will be released by HOW/F+W Media, Inc in early 2016.

This will be the 6th LogoLounge Book we’ve been published in with a total of 19 logos to date.

 

Here are our logos that were selected:

Logo-Lounge-9-winners

Ironically, most of the logos chosen for publication were not the logos our clients selected, except for the Abiding Grace and da Vinci Tree logos.

If you are looking for one of the best logo designers in St. Louis, MO, or anywhere else in the World, give Visual Lure a call today. We would love to design a logo for you that is memorable, timeless and eye-catching. You never know, the logo we design for you could be published in the next LogoLounge book.